Cocoa prices up 12% after Ivory Coast considers export ban.

Ripe Cocoa Pods

“The UN has certified Mr Outtara as the winner of the election and consequently companies are obligated to pay their taxes to the properly elected government.”

This is a make-or-break issue for Outtara’s government-to-be. Ivory Coast is the world’s single biggest cocoa producer, accounting for 40% of global supply. So far, it seems, international buyers – including some of the world’s largest chocolate companies – are continuing to purchase cocoa. In so doing, they are paying money straight into the hands of Gbagbo, in Outtara’s words, “financing the illegitimate regime”.

Covington & Burling wouldn’t discuss the detail of the advice they are giving to Outtara, and I understand their work is still at its early stages but this week their client announced a one-month suspension on cocoa exports. The question is, in a country where the livelihoods of around 700,000 farmers rely on cocoa, who else will it starve in the process?